One year ago, One Direction released their first album, “Up All Night,†to a predominantly British audience. A year later, they released their second album, “Take Me Home,†onto the world stage. In the past year, they’ve gone from being the group of five boys who placed third on The X Factor in 2010 to the group of five boys that are the love interests of millions of girls across the world.
“Up All Night†was a tough act to beat, but the boys definitely beat it. The album starts off upbeat with the album’s first single, “Live While We’re Young.†The song has the rhythm of a classic club song, complete with the catchphrase “tonight let’s get some, and live while we’re young.”
“Live While We’re Young†is followed by another upbeat club song, and the boy band’s newest United States single, “Kiss You,†before slowing down a fair bit for the second album single, “Little Things,” written by fellow British artist the singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran. The song is slow and heartwarming, a message to a girl that you love everything about them, including all of the little things.
Little Things is followed by yet another upbeat pop song, “C’mon C’mon,†and the outgoing rhythm of the songs lasts for another three songs, ending with “Rock Me,†the ultimate club dance song on the album. The song begins with clapping reminiscent of Queen’s 1977 hit “We Will Rock You.†The chorus is made up of Niall Horan singing the melody, and Harry Styles singing the harmony, and makes the listener immediately want to jump up and dance.
“Change My Mind†slows down a bit, a slower pop song, before leading into “I Would,†a preppy song written by the boys of One Direction, along with Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones and Dougie Poynter of another British band, McFLY. Tom Fletcher also wrote a song from “Up All Night†called “I Want.†“I Would†blends into “Over Again,†a slow, bittersweet song also written by Sheeran. The song’s lyrics are similar to poetry, “now she’s feeling so low since she went solo, hole in the middle of my heart like a polo. And it’s no joke to me, so can we do it all over again?”
“Over Again†is followed by “Back for You,†and then “They Don’t Know About Us,†a song about a love that the world knows nothing about, but, if they did, they would be jealous. The final track of the album, “Summer Love,†was written mostly by the boys themselves, and is a bittersweet melody about looking back on a past summer relationship.
Overall, “Take Me Home†is a definite win for the boys of One Direction. Its upbeat pop songs blend perfectly into the slower, bittersweet ones. It reminds the critics that they have more than just looks going for them, and reminds the fans that yes, they’re still there, and that yes, they’re still talented. Each song sounds as if it’s been recorded with the thought of how it will sound in a stadium in mind, and, chances are, each song will sound amazing.
